Last Summer
by LightlesShadow
Summary: Hugh reminiscences what happens four months ago.


_**Last Summer **_

Bitterly, he opened his eyes to look at the time next to him. With no traces of soul within them, his head fell back asleep. Four months and still going, four months and still counting, four months and still crying. Yes, to hell with happiness and welcome the sadness in his arms. Eternally, he'll yearn and get nothing in return.

Fuck life, fuck everything. How could someone live when they are so miserable? He bitterly smiled at these thoughts. It felt comfortable to hide everything now but not four months ago. Just a little bit left to open his heart when he closed it again.

He didn't get out of bed, he laid there as he stared at the ceiling. Staring at it hard, yet to find no answer. He clicked his tongue and slightly turned his head over to the side. He scrunched his eyes when he saw something that he didn't want to see, a drawing of some sort. It was old but it was still in good condition. He turned his head around to ignore the drawing.

He felt his empty heart ache. How he wanted to tear that drawing from its place and throw it in the garbage but he couldn't, he was too attach to it. He lightly sighed and opened the window. The cold breeze was soothing against his emptiness.

He opened his soulless eyes and tilted his head slightly. Stars were glowing everywhere and it brought back an old memory. Something buried deep yet still vivid and alive in his mind.

_Five Months Ago..._

_August 3rd_

_Blue eyes beamed happily as she dragged the blue hair and crimson eyed boy out onto the field. He sighed as she suddenly stopped and dropped her hold on the helm of his sweater. His head hit against the soft grass, hard. _

_Angrily, he shot up and stared angrily at the girl. "Hey, that hurt you know?" he angrily asked but she did not seem to notice this anger seeping through him. _

"_Hugh, look up!" she exclaimed and he did._

_His eyes widen at the sight of so many stars. "It's like the galaxy only belongs to us!" she exclaimed happily. _

_Washed away from his anger that instant, he turned to her and smiled. "Yeah," was what he could only say before he slightly touched her hand with his. He left it there and the girl noticed. He blushed. _

_The girl blushed too and was about to take her hand away when he grabbed it gently. _

"_Mei, let's have a peaceful night together," Hugh said. _

_Mei smiled slightly._

If on cue, he felt like he was dreaming when he was actually deep in thought. His conscience was still there while his hands moved towards the last drawer instinctively. In the drawer, held a journal. It only had events of those five months ago. He never took it from its place since then but now he opened the book and turned to each page.

_August 1 _

_I finally found the girl that I've been searching for ten years ago. I was shocked to see her in the hospital, so frail yet so beautiful in my eyes. I didn't know what became of me because what I knew next was that I was walking up to her. _

_Though her frame didn't fit with her personality. She was wild, very wild. She would throw things at my face without me knowing it and while I was asleep she would draw on my face. That sounded familiar because I remember a Jiggypuff doing that once...well the memory was so faded all I remember was the marker in that pinkster's hand and well its cuteness was a trap. _

_It was just like how this girl trapped me into her beauty but what captivated me was her personality. That's how every falls in love, right?_

_Well, the girl's name is Mei. I would always come to visit her everyday. Heck, I would have loved to get myself sick just to skip school and see her. _

_I laughed at that thought. How was I crazy for a single girl? _

_I felt a sense of completeness within me. It just felt so right to get this mission I brought upon myself accomplished. Today, I would have to mark it officially, "The Happiest Day of my Life." _

Hugh smiled with no emotions. He remembered that day just like it was yesterday but how long has it been since then? He lightly sighed before he brushed his hands over the faded words, _The Happiest Day of my Life. _It was as if his words had powers that he felt like he was living in that day again, the day that he found her.

_August 1 _

_When Hugh jumped onto the wrong hospital bed, he got hit hard with a book on his head. "PERVERT!" was the first thing he heard when he looked to see a girl about his age. "How old are you, jumping on other people's beds without their consent!?" the girl angrily asked as she started hitting him again. _

"_Ow! Ow! Ow! STOP!" Hugh shouted as he immediately got on his knees and started apologizing."I'm sorry. I'm very sorry. I'm VERY VERY SORRY!" Hugh pleaded and the girl just chuckled. _

_Hugh was allured for a second before he fully looked at the girl, she was familiar. "Hey, it looks like I met you from somewhere," the girl suddenly said and Hugh snapped out of his trance. _

_The girl was thinking. Her eyes widen when she suddenly pointed a finger at him. "Hugh!" she called out and Hugh jumped. _

"_Wait," Hugh also thought for a second before he also had the same reaction. "You're Mei!" he suddenly called out. Suddenly tears fell from his eyes. The search was over, ten years have not gone to waste instead he felt happy when he suddenly hugged Mei tightly. _

"_I've been looking for you for ten years..." he slowly said as he closed his eyes and buried his head into her brown hair, her scent was comforting. A punch came towards his stomach and he grasped it as if he was in pain. _

_"What the hell was that for?" he angrily asked. _

_"You can't hug someone you just met after a decade," she exclaimed. Hugh's eyes widen. _

_"Yes, I could! There's no problem hugging people important to me!" Hugh countered back. _

_"GET OUT!" Mei shouted as she kicked Hugh out of her room. "You were suppose to meet the person next door who was supposedly your grandma!" Mei shouted as she slammed the door shut in front of his face. _

_For some reason, instead of his usual anger, he was smiling. A smile plastered on his face when he entered his grandma's room. "Hey grandma," he grinned widely. His grandmother looked at him oddly. "Is something wrong with you?" she asked._

_Hugh shook his head, for some reason, he just felt happy today. He was going to write what he felt when he got home._

Hugh, for the first time in a while, chuckled. It had been a while since he lightly laughed like that. He remembered the wild Mei killing him intently with that book and despite her small frame, her fist packed quite a lot of power for a girl. He also remembered smiling like an idiot all day and when he got home, his parents thought he was weird even though he had marks all over his face. He was like the perfect sight anyone could laugh at.

Hugh turned the page.

_August 2_

_I was angry, very angry. I tried not to get pissed off but that goddamn it Mei had to draw on my face with permanent marker. It was so hard to wash off and I came stomping into the hospital today. I wanted to vent off my anger on her and she should know by now that I was famous for my anger and my quota. "I'm about to unleash my rage!" _

_When I slammed the door open to her room. Mei was looking intently into a dictionary and her appearance just swept my anger away. I didn't know how she did that but it felt like magic, seeing her hard at work...on something. _

_"Mei, what are you doing?" I asked as I went besides her. She suddenly brought the dictionary to her chest. She was blushing and I wondered why. _

_"N-nothing," she answered as she hid underneath her blanket. Mei was like a kid but very easy to read, her physical actions were unpredictable but when it came to emotions she was no match for someone as perceptive as me. Well, I would consider the fact that I act like a kid too. For example, jumping into the wrong hospital bed yesterday and getting my ass kicked. _

_"Stop lying," I said as I took the covers off of her. "Just tell me what you want to know," I said. _

_Mei gulped. She looked nervous. She opened her mouth and then closed it again. I was starting to lose my patience when she suddenly asked something. _

_"What's a kiss?" she suddenly asked. I stared at her. _

_"I mean I know what a kiss is. It's just that I want to experience how one feels like," Mei confessed and I looked at her with widen eyes. She threw the book at my face. "Never mind! Just go along like you never heard that!" Mei exclaimed as she tried to usher my out of the room but I stopped her. _

_I grasped her wrist and stared into her eyes, full of curiosity and innocence. "Do you want to experience how one feels like?" I asked. _

_Mei did not answer for a moment before she hesitantly nodded her head. Judging by this reaction, I could tell that she was never kissed by someone and this gave me a sense of relief. I was going to take Mei's first kiss and this was yet another accomplishment on my part. _

_I leaned my face closer to her's. My forehead now touching her's as I closed the distance. Mei closed her eyes and so did I. _

_I gently pressed my lips against her's. Her lips were soft and addicting. I wanted to continue the kiss but it was my first kiss as well so I didn't know what to do. After applying a little bit of pressure, I pulled away and we both gasped for air. _

_Mei was blushing and so was I. _

_"You're red," I commented and Mei looked at me. _

_"You too!" she countered back and I just laughed. _

_I was Mei's first kiss and she was mine and that was all that mattered. _

Hugh touched his lips. His first experience made him very happy and when he thought back to that time, it felt like a dream yet so real at the same time. He closed his eyes as a very small tear fell. He turned to the next page.

_August 3_

_Today I met Mei's mom and she stared at me weirdly as I entered Mei's room. She accusingly pointed a finger at me like I was some kind of intruder. However, Mei was oblivious to this as she gestured for me to come over like we were close buddies. She was happy when she saw me and I just smiled that my presence comforted her. _

_"Mom, this is Hugh!" she introduced and I waved at her mother. She was still on guard. "He's this weird guy whose been visiting me a lot lately," she said. _

_I slumped my shoulders. I wondered how I was this weird guy and I thought that I was closer to her than that. I sighed loudly and the two of them looked at me. Just hearing those powerful words from Mei, my day was instantly ruined and I decided to get up and walk away when her mother stopped me. _

_She grabbed me by the wrist and the glare in her brown eyes made me in danger. Luckily the danger was nothing much only with parents and their wrong thoughts. "You better not have done anything to my daughter!" she exclaimed as she pointed an accusing finger at me. _

_I sighed and stared at her, glaring more precisely. "I would never do that to your daughter! I cherish her too much for me to even think of doing anything that would make her cry!" I declared. Her mother stared at me in surprise and then her eyes shifted towards something else. _

_I turned around to see Mei. She covered her mouth and a look of shock loomed over her face. It looked like it never occur to her that I loved her but I only knew of it today. She ran into the room and slammed the door shut. _

_That night, we also sneaked outside and Mei apologized to me as she dragged me out. I forgave her and she brought me to see the stars that night. It was the night that took my breath away. _

Hugh felt stupid when he said those words but he did not hold back his smile since he was alone in his room at 4 in the morning. The word 'cherished' had a deep meaning to him and he touched over that written word as he closed his eyes and thought. After a moment he flipped the page again.

_August 4_

_Today I learned I could never defeat Mei in card games, especially Tonk. She was the queen of that game and she even said that she didn't even know how to play! I wondered if she was lying but she hadn't played a single card game in her life yet, not even Fish! I sighed and thought about my loss streak. _

_Mei was winning overwhelmingly. _

_I placed down a King of Spades to get rid of the ten. _

_Mei's eyes gleamed as she placed down three Kings and she only had two more cards left. I gawked at her. I wondered what her low number was because the person with the lowest number wins. I took a card from the deck and it was a Seven of Hearts. I placed it in between my Six of Spades. It was hard for me to choose which one I want to throw out when I finally picked a Three of Diamonds and placed it in the junk pile. _

_Mei smiled evilly at me and took my three. She placed down three threes' and I already knew I lost. _

_She won 14 times while I lost 14 times. I wondered how someone who didn't know how to play Tonk could beat me easily in such a game. I was usually the King of Tonk in my family but I might have to lower my rank when I'm going against Mei in this game. It's so funny because I will always assume if Mei was naturally good with cards and if so she could be really good at gambling. _

_"Another win for me!" Mei exclaimed as she suddenly hugged me. I suddenly blushed from the contact but nonetheless I hugged her back, tightly. _

_"Mei is going to be the Queen of Gamblers!" I jokingly said and she just laughed. _

Hugh embarrassingly brought his hands over his mouth. He remembered his first losing streak, he felt like a loser, losing to a girl wasn't his style. He sighed and turned to the next page to get that embarrassment of his life out of his mind and then he laughed because he found out that he was too cocky then.

_August 5_

_Mei was a big fan of BEAST. And no I don't mean a real beast like a dragon, I meant Beast as in the famous South Korean boy band and I thought I was the only guy into K-Pop. She even got a signed signature from the group to feel better and I felt jealous and happy for her at the same time. I also wanted something from the boy band who ruled the K-Pop charts but seeing how happy she was I also felt happy for her. _

_"How did you get to know Beast?" I asked. _

_"Through the internet," Mei smiled as she looked at the hand-signed signature board and brushed her fingers over it lightly. "I didn't know what music was back then until Beast taught it to me," she smiled. "The first song I ever listened to was from Beast," Mei said. _

_"What song was it?" I asked. _

_Mei smiled warmly. "It's a secret," she said. _

_"Then it looks like I would just have to found out until you say yes," I said, determined to know the song she listened to. _

_"Fine, it's three words and it is starts with a B and ends with a U" Mei gave hints. I already knew what song she was talking about when she said that. _

_"Back to You!" I exclaimed and Mei was shocked that I found out so quickly. _

_"Don't underestimate me," I sighed. _

_"I didn't, I just didn't think you were that sharp," Mei explained and I just laughed and pulled her into a hug. I could tell that she was blushing but she didn't fight back and hugged me back. Just then, I wanted to tell her, 'I Love You' but I held back the urge because I was scared I was going to make her cry. _

Hugh searched through his drawers until he found his MP3 player. It was pretty outdated but it still worked well and he looked at his playlist. He clicked on it and then on the Artists and saw Beast first on his Artist List. Hugh felt his empty heart ache once again. The band gave them both a connection and for some strange reason, Hugh still felt the presence of Mei whenever he listened to Beast's songs. He was sad and he didn't really listen to the band after what happened four months ago. He never checked for updates on the K-pop news.

He held the MP3 like it was the only thing in life that he couldn't let go, basically it was the only remnants of that person. It had been a while since he cried because a tear slid down his cheek once again.

The tear dripped onto a page of the journal as he turned it.

_August 6_

_There's always a time in life when you want to hide everything. It happens to everyone. Everyone including me. __Today I saw the thing that I dreaded seeing the most. When I was about to barge into Mei's hospital room I instantly stopped when I heard a coughing sound coming from the room. I silently poked my head in and my eyes widen at the sight. _

_Mei was coughing up blood and there was no way I could stop it. _

_I instantly hid behind the wall. Feeling like an idiot who couldn't do anything but watch, stay on the sidelines. When Mei finished coughing, she took some tissue to get rid of the blood and wiped her hands with a clean side of the tissue. _

_I watched as Mei did this and carelessly threw the tissue into the waste basket. _

_I walked in and Mei smiled instantly. My eyes were holding sadness in them. I now know why Mei was kept in the hospital and I didn't want to know the truth because it would hurt a hell lot more. _

_"What are you doing?" I asked as I took a stool and sat besides her. She smiled. _

_"I was practicing my shots," she said. _

_"Tell me the truth," I heard myself say. At that instant, I felt like I wasn't myself, like I was losing myself when anger and sadness overtook me. _

_I grabbed Mei by the shoulder and pushed her against the wall, lightly so to not hurt her. I glared at her. "Don't give me that!" I shouted. I lowered my head, trying to hold in what I wanted to explode the most. _

_"You were coughing up blood before?" I asked. _

_There was a dead silence and I knew this question made Mei uneasy. She shifted uncomfortably but I had a firm grip on her shoulders. _

_She hesitated for a moment before lowering her head. "Yes," she slowly answered. "I-I didn't want to show it to you," she struggled to get out of my grip. _

_"Nope, you're not leaving," I said as I leaned against her and took her hand in mine. _

_Mei was crying and I felt her tears wet my sweater. I slightly hugged her tighter. "I didn't want to show this to you the most," she sobbed. "I don't want the one I like to see me like this," she cried. _

_My eyes widen and she stopped sobbing once she realized what she said. "I meant as an important friend," she smiled at me as she wiped her tears. I slightly tightened my hold on her shoulders. She looked at me. I was serious. _

_"Tell me what you said before that," I said. Mei blushed and I took this as a chance to kiss her. Again, I was afraid I wouldn't be able to kiss these lips again, like this was going to be the last time. Mei's eyes widen but she didn't push me away. She snake her arms around my neck and cried in the kiss. I could tell that she didn't want to leave no matter what. _

Hugh silently cursed. He wanted to destroy the part of the world with diseases in it. If there wasn't any diseases or symptoms then Mei wouldn't have cough up blood that time. Hugh continued to read.

_"How much time do you have life?" I asked the question I dreaded the most. _

_Mei held onto me like she never wanted to let go and I didn't want to let go either. "Two more days..." she answered and my eyes widen. I hugged Mei tighter than ever. "No, I would prevent anything from happening!" I shouted. _

_Mei also cried. I couldn't do anything but watch._

"B-brother are you okay?" asked a person from the door. Hugh turned to face his letter sister. The tears were sliding down his cheeks as he slowly wiped them. "Damn it!" he shouted. His little sister flinched.

"Sorry, Hana," he said. "I'm just overreacting over something stupid like this," Hugh said. He tried to wipe his tears but they wouldn't leave. Hana walked into his room.

"Please going outside right now," Hugh said.

"No," Hana said firmly.

"I wonder what I can do for brother who done a lot for me," Hana said. "If brother wants me to do something for him, I would," Hana said as she went to her big brother.

The little seven year old hugged her brother in comfort. "Damn it, just thinking about Mei hurts!" Hugh finally shouted out. "Every god damn thing that's related to her hurts like hell, it's so natural to not stop this pain!" Hugh cried out.

Hana hugged her brother tighter.

"Hey, brother, we were suppose to visit her today, right?" Hana asked.

Hugh let go of Hana and wiped his tears to answer her question. "I don't think she wants to see me," Hugh answered.

"Come on, let's go, even Mom and Dad said to go," Hana exclaimed happily.

"What are you so happy about?" Hugh asked.

"Because I want to see how the person my brother like is," Hana said happily. Hugh clicked his tongue but nevertheless he stood up and put on a black jacket and a pair of thermal jeans.

"Come on, let's go," Hugh said.

"Yay!" Hana exclaimed happily.

"Hey Mei, I came even though you told me not too," Hugh said as he sat down and looked at the grave with Mei's name, birthday, and everything scripted in it. "You could blame it on these three," Hugh pointed at his parents and Hana.

Hugh put down the stone on the grave. "You said that some day you wanted to pluck those stars in the galaxy, right?" Hugh asked. "Well, I have one right here, it's for you," Hugh said. Hugh held back his tears.

"You're Hugh, right?" suddenly asked a voice and both of them turned to see a man with black hair and blue eyes, just like Mei. She must have been Mei's father.

Hugh stood up and bowed. "Yes," he answered and the man sighed in relief as he suddenly shuffled through his bag. He finally took something from his bag and placed the wrapped piece of item on Hugh's hand. "This was something from my daughter that I found when cleaning the room and when I heard from my wife about you and my daughter, I want to thank you," he said as he bowed.

"Thank you for spending your time with Mei in her final moments," he said.

"Stand up," Hugh said and the man did as he was told. "I didn't do anything. I wanted to be there for her," Hugh said.

The man smiled slightly before he turned around and left. Hugh gently tore off the wrapping paper to reveal a book. Hugh's eyes widen as he flipped through the pages and it seemed like Mei was doing the same thing Hugh was doing. He gently closed the dairy and kissed it, knowing that Mei's soul was in her words.

As they left, Hugh walked a bit slower and felt a powerful wind. He could feel Mei's presence and turned around but saw nothing. He heard a small laugh and felt a small kiss on his cheek. "Hugh, I love you too," Mei answered before the wind blew again.


End file.
